TOOLS:

This is pretty much everything that I used, but it would obviously be good to have an assortment of tools available in case you run into unexpected complications, etc.

1. 7mm socket
2. 8mm socket
3. 10mm socket
4. 13mm socket
5. Deep 12mm socket
6. Socket extensions
7. Phillips screwdriver
8. T30 torx bit
9. Adjustable wrenches (various sizes)
10. Channel locks
11. Vise-Grips (various sizes)
12. Safety glasses
13. A few cans of brake cleaner
14. Shop towels
15. Drill and drill bits
16. Razor blade

PARTS / SUPPLIES:

Many of these are optional. Obviously, you can replace only what’s necessary in your situation. I went a bit above and beyond what was necessary as preventive maintenance and because it was extremely easy to replace some things when the front of the Jeep was disassembled (i.e. fan belt). Also, some of these might be different between the 4.7L and 4.0L engines, newer model WJs, or may have been superseded by newer part numbers. Check with your local dealer to verify part numbers before ordering anything.

1. Radiator -$145 shipped to my door in 2 days
2. Auxiliary transmission oil cooler (Mopar #52079414AB)
3. Transmission oil cooler lines
• Mopar #52079433AB (Transmission Out - Lower radiator fitting)
• Mopar #52079436AC (Upper radiator fitting - Upper auxiliary cooler fitting)
• Mopar #52079435AB (Lower auxiliary cooler fitting - Transmission In)
4. Upper radiator hose (Mopar #52079407)
5. Lower radiator hose (Mopar #52079409)
6. Fan belt (Goodyear Gatorback #4060875 or Mopar #53032037AC)
7. Water pump (Mopar #53020873AB)
8. Water pump gasket (Mopar #53020865)
9. Thermostat and gasket (Mopar #52079476AD)
10. Thermostat housing (Mopar #53020887AB)
11. Radiator cap (Mopar #551166898AA)
12. Coolant (I used about a gallon and a half)
13. ATF+4 (to replace what was in the old radiator/auxiliary cooler and what leaks from the lower lines when you disconnect the lines)
14. Assorted plastic rivets to reattach various plastic parts
15. Factory tow hooks and mounting brackets
16. Radiator fan relay (electric fan) (Mopar #04707286AF)
17. 24oz R-134A
18. Bumper support bracket (Mopar #55296138AB)
19. Header panel (Mopar #55155498AB)

PROCEDURE:

**Removing the fascia (steps 2-8) may be somewhat different for the newer WJs with a different grille/fascia assembly but should be self-explanatory.

1) Disconnect the negative battery terminal (deep 12mm socket)

2) Remove the 3 plastic rivets from each fender well that attach the fascia to the splash shield


3) Remove the 10mm (use a deep socket) screw from each fender well that attaches the fascia to the fender


4) Unhook the fog light wiring harness (one on each side)

• OPTIONAL: replace stock 9055 bulbs with 9005 bulbs (see links below)
• http://www.wjjeeps.com/lamps/lampsupgrade.htm#FOG
• http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/zj/piaa/fog.htm

5) Remove the 3 plastic rivets at the lower fascia, which attach the fascia to the metal bumper bracket

• My metal bracket was pretty well corroded from the radiator leak and no longer connected to the fascia so I replaced it

6) Remove the 4 large plastic rivets that attach the lower splash shield to the unibody (2 on each side) or remove the radiator skid plate bolts and skid plate if equipped


7) Remove the 7 phillips screws attaching the fascia grille to the header panel


8) Remove fascia by carefully pulling forward
9) OPTIONAL: Remove bumper bracket, which attaches to the lower fascia and to the radiator support lower cross member (3x10mm bolts)

• This makes it much easier to access the lower portion of the radiator and drain petcock

10) OPTIONAL: Install tow hooks in factory location


11) Remove radiator petcock and radiator cap to drain radiator

• You can also drain from the lower hose if you are unable to open the petcock
• Make sure you open the radiator cap to allow air to displace the coolant

12) Remove the long headlamp retaining screw from each side (7mm)

13) Remove headlamps by pulling firmly forward to dislodge the 3 ballstuds from the tabs on the header panel

• The fist time I did this, I broke the yellow plastic ball stud mounting tabs (either because it was cold out or they were old and brittle) and had to buy a new header panel because they don’t sell the tabs individually

14) Disconnect headlamp wiring from back of headlamps (5 bulbs per side) and set headlamps aside

• OPTIONAL: replace amber wedge bulbs (amber 194-A)
• OPTIONAL: replace amber regular bulb (amber 3157)
• OPTIONAL: replace 9006 lows beams with 9012 HIRs
• OPTIONAL: Install Kolaks headlamp wiring harness upgrade
• http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/zj/harness/
• OPTIONAL: Replace headlamp housings if pitted/yellow/etc
• http://www.wjjeeps.com/lamps/lampsupgrade.htm#OEM
• http://www.wjjeeps.com/lamps/lampsupgrade.htm#EXTERIOR
• http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/zj/piaa/headlight.htm

15) Remove the 8 torx bolts attaching the header panel to the frame/crossmember (T30)

16) CAREFULLY remove the header panel mounting tabs (1 on each side)

17) Remove the single rivet holding the air box inlet to the header panel (driver side)

18) Disconnect the temperature sensor


19) Pull the header panel slightly forward and carefully disconnect the headlamp wiring connectors by sliding out the red retaining tabs and pulling apart the wiring harness


20) Remove the header panel from the vehicle and set aside along with the disconnected headlamp wiring harnesses (make sure you mark which wiring harness is for which side)

21) OPTIONAL: Remove and replace the fan relay (2x8mm) from the passenger side underneath the header panel

• I HIGHLY recommend this as this relay will probably go bad at some point or another

22) Remove the upper cross member bolts (2x10mm per side; 4 total)

23) Remove 2x13mm hood latch bolts

• Mark outside of bolt heads for reinstallation to line up hood latch correctly

24) Remove the upper cross member from the vehicle and set aside


25) Remove the upper radiator hose by using a channel-lock pliers or Vise-Grip to hold the clamp open and slide it down the house and out of the way

• If you are replacing the upper hose, you can simply remove the hose from the upper engine block inlet and leave it attached to the old radiator
• My hose was stuck to the inlet housing so I scored it with a razor blade to remove it. Be careful not to damage the aluminum inlet housing adapter that the hose slides onto.

26) Remove the coolant reservoir overflow hose from the radiator neck

27) Remove the air box inlet duct

28) Remove the lower radiator hose using a channel locks or Vise-Grip

• This hose was difficult to remove because it has an internal spring, which makes it very difficult to maneuver.  My hose was stuck to the thermostat inlet housing so I scored it with a razor blade to remove it. Be careful not to damage the plastic inlet housing that the hose slides onto.

29) Remove the 3/8” rubber transmission hoses that run to the transmission oil cooler by sliding the metal clamps towards the center of the hose. Leave the hoses attached to the metal lines that run to the transmission (towards the rear of the vehicle).

• You will lose a small amount of transmission fluid when you disconnect the hoses. I simply plugged the holes temporarily with a small rubber cork to prevent fluid loss.

30) Remove the radiator mounting bolts (2x10mm) by pulling back the plastic air deflectors (one on each side)


31) Remove A/C lines from condenser (2x13mm)

• You should PROBABLY have the system professionally discharged before performing this removal. However, I loosened these bolts and allowed the system to slowly discharge itself (oops).
• To recharge later, you’ll need 24oz of R-134A
• NOTE: Without any refrigerant in the system, the A/C compressor will no longer engage, which will cause your defrost to be mostly ineffective at removing the humidity from the air (as the evaporator/drier is no longer working) so make sure you promptly recharge the system for safety reasons.

32) Disconnect the electric fan wiring harness (passenger side)


33) Lift up on the radiator/fan/shroud/condenser/aux cooler assembly and remove it from the vehicle

• Be careful not to catch the bottom of the plastic fan shroud on the bottom on the metal fan blades.

34) OPTIONAL: Remove the fan belt by using a 15mm socket to rotate the belt tensioner to the right, which allows enough slack in the belt for it to be removed
34a) OPTIONAL: Replace the water pump
34b) To replace the fan belt, route the new belt CORRECTLY through all of the pulleys but around the outside (left side) of the idler pulley. Then hold the tensioner to the right again and move the belt inside (to the right) of the idler pulley.

• I assume this process is similar for the 4.0L engine.
• The belt routing diagram sticker is on the cross member you removed earlier

35) OPTIONAL: After the lower radiator hose is completely removed from the vehicle, remove the plastic thermostat housing (2x10mm) and replace the thermostat.

• Align the small vent hole in the thermostat to the 12 o’clock position
• The spring side of the thermostat should face into the engine

RADIATOR SWAP:

With the radiator removed:
1) Remove the fan shroud and e-fan from the old radiator (4x10mm)


2) Place the shroud and fan on the new radiator and HAND TIGHTEN the 4 shroud bolts you just removed (you will need to temporarily remove one of the bolts to route one of the aux cooler lines in a later step)

• You may need to reuse some of the metal retaining clips from the old radiator if your new radiator was not supplied with any. These are necessary to attach the fan shroud to the new radiator and are available at any auto parts store.

3) Remove the 3 metal transmission oil cooler lines from the old radiator/auxiliary cooler and set aside

• 2 of these will need to be disconnected from the auxiliary transmission oil cooler prior to removal

4) Remove the auxiliary cooler and condenser from old radiator by removing the 3x10mm bolts and sliding the assembly up and out of the mounting tabs located on the lower portion of the radiator


5) Install the condenser and auxiliary cooler on the new radiator

• You may need to reuse some of the metal retaining clips from the old radiator if your new radiator was not supplied with any. These are necessary to attach the condenser/auxiliary cooler assembly to the new radiator and are available at any auto parts store.

6) Remove the 2 plastic air diverters from old radiator and install correctly on the new radiator

• These are very important because they ensure that moving air is routed THROUGH the radiator and not AROUND it

7) (Re)install the long auxiliary transmission cooler line

• This line runs between the lower port of the auxiliary transmission oil cooler and the rubber transmission hose underneath the vehicle
• You will need to route this line BETWEEN fan shroud and radiator (this is why the bolts were hand tightened earlier)
• Use thread seal tape on the threads
• DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN this fitting because both the line and the auxiliary cooler are made of aluminum and can easily break/dent/crack if over-tightened

8) Install the upper radiator transmission cooler line from radiator

• This line runs between the upper radiator fitting and the upper port of the auxiliary transmission cooler
• This line loops up/over the radiator
• Use thread seal tape on the threads
• DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN this fitting as both the line and the auxiliary cooler are made of aluminum and can easily break/dent/crack if over-tightened

9) Install the lower transmission cooler line

• This line runs between the lower radiator fitting and the rubber transmission hose underneath the vehicle
• Use thread seal tape on the threads

10) Remove the lower plastic air diverter from the old radiator and install onto the new radiator.

• My new radiator did not have the correct holes in the bottom lip to reinstall the plastic air diverter so I used the diverter as a template and CAREFULLY drilled 7/32” holes into the bottom lip and used plastic rivets to attach the diverter.

RE-INSTALLATION:
11) Carefully reinstall the radiator/auxiliary cooler/condenser/shroud assembly into the Jeep

• Make sure to line up the rubber alignment dowels into the lower radiator support

12) Reinstall the upper radiator hose and clamp at both ends

13) Reinstall the reservoir hose to radiator filler neck

14) Reinstall the A/C condenser lines onto the A/C condenser (passenger side)

• DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN these fitting as both the lines and the condenser are made of aluminum and can easily break/dent/crack if over-tightened

15) Reinstall the lower radiator hose and clamp at both ends

16) Reattach the rubber transmission hoses to the correct lines at the base of the radiator

17) Open cooling system bleeder valve (where the upper hose meets the engine block) and fill the radiator at the radiator neck until coolant comes out of the bleeder valve.

• Tighten the bleeder valve when coolant starts to flow out of it

18) Install radiator cap onto radiator filler neck

19) Run Jeep at idle with high heat (maximum temperature setting) on recirculate for 10 to 15 minutes to check for any leaks in transmission lines or coolant

• OPTIONAL: Use a radiator pressure tester to make sure the system holds pressure (do this with the engine OFF)

If no leaks are found…

20) Reinstall cross member

21) Reinstall hood latch

22) Reinstall header panel

23) Attach headlamp wiring harnesses and reinstall headlamps

24) Attach electric fan wiring harness

25) Reinstall front fascia using all hardware from removal and new plastic rivets

• Make sure you slide the bumper cover over the (white) plastic guides on the bottom of the fenders

26) Recharge the A/C system at the low-side service port (near the coolant reservoir tank)

27) Pat yourself on the back

28) Crack open a cold one